Victoria County (Scottish Gaelic: Siorramachd Bhioctoria) is an historical county and census division of Nova Scotia, Canada. Local government is provided by the Municipality of the County of Victoria and the Wagmatcook 1 reserve.

History

Named after Queen Victoria, it was established by statute in 1851. Cape Breton County was divided into two separate counties in that year, with the northern portion becoming Victoria County.

The earliest settlers of Victoria County were almost exclusively Loyalists, with most arriving from the United States in the years following the American Revolutionary War. It was noted by historian G.G. Patterson in 1885 that "In (Queen Victoria's) broad domain upon which the sun never sets, we venture to say there dwell none more loyal than (Victoria County's) few thousand inhabitants".

Forming the majority of the Victoria County census division, the Municipality of the County of Victoria, including its Subdivisions A and B, had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Population trend

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Census

! Population

! Change (%)

|-

| 2021

| 7,441

| 5.0%

|-

| 2016

| 7,089

| 0.4%

|-

| 2011

| 7,115

| 6.3%

|-

| 2006

| 7,594

| 4.6%

|-

| 2001

| 7,962

| 6.1%

|-

| 1996

| 8,482

| 2.6%

|-

| 1991

| 8,708

| 0.0%

|-

| 1986

| 8,704

| 1.0%

|-

| 1981

| 8,432

| N/A

|-

| 1941

| 8,028

|

|-

| 1931

| 7,926

|

|-

| 1921

| 8,904

|

|-

| 1911

| 9,910

|

|-

| 1901

| 10,571

|

|-

| 1891

| 12,432

|

|-

| 1881

| 12,470

|

|-

| 1871

| 11,346

| N/A

|}

Mother tongue language (2011)

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Language

! Population

! Pct (%)

|-

| English only

| 6,460

| 91.11%

|-

| French only

| 55

| 0.78%

|-

| Non-official languages

| 550

| 7.76%

|-

| Multiple responses

| 25

| 0.35%

|}

Ethnic Groups (2006)

{| class="wikitable"

|-

! Ethnic Origin

! Population

! Pct (%)

|-

| Scottish

| 3,955

| 52.7%

|-

| Canadian

| 2,280

| 30.4%

|-

| English

| 1,690

| 22.5%

|-

| Irish

| 1,545

| 20.6%

|-

| French

| 890

| 11.9%

|-

| First Nations

| 615

| 8.2%

|-

| German

| 410

| 5.5%

|-

| Dutch (Netherlands)

| 305

| 4.%

|}

Climate

Victoria County experiences a marine influenced humid continental climate, with very delayed seasons.

Communities

;Villages

  • Baddeck

;Unincorporated settlements

  • Ingonish

;Reserves

  • Wagmatcook 1

;County municipality and county subdivisions

  • Municipality of the County of Victoria
  • Victoria, Subd. A
  • Victoria, Subd. B

Government and politics

The county is administered by the Municipality of the County of Victoria. The federal Electoral Riding is Sydney—Victoria.

Access routes

Highways and numbered routes that run through the county, including external routes that start or finish at the county limits:

  • Highways
  • Trunk Routes
  • Cabot Trail
  • Collector Routes:
  • External Routes:
  • None

See also

  • List of counties of Nova Scotia
  • Royal eponyms in Canada

References

  • Municipality of Victoria County website
  • Visit Victoria County Official Tourism website
  • Central Cape Breton
  • Photographs of historic monuments in Victoria County